Chapter Three

The mission isn’t a hard one; just long. Tony is getting used to flying halfway around the world and back, but the physical part of it does take its toll at times. Pepper has urged him to stop at one of his houses and just take a jet back; sleep and get some rest instead going it in a marathon, but Tony doesn’t bother, because the sooner he’s back, the better. The sooner he’s home to her, the better.

Having someone to return to really does make a difference, although he’s not admitting it.

Home is now Pepper, who helps him get bathed and bandaged and fed; who makes sure there are analgesics and heating pads as needed. It’s waking up with her there, and making love and finishing off whatever is in the fridge and letting Jarvis brief him on the outcome of the mission, the Lakers games, the state of Stark Industries.

Therefore Tony’s annoyed to step out of the shower, clean and tired, to find Pepper on the phone instead of ushering him to bed. He shoots her a ‘please get off the phone’ glare, but she shakes her head, and her next words explain why.

“ . . .love to spend Thanksgiving with you—let me check and make sure . . .” Pepper pins the phone to her chest and shoots Tony a slightly pleading look.

He sighs. Pepper doesn’t ask for a lot when it comes to personal favors, and one of the few is her right to spend Thanksgiving with her aunt. She’s done it every year, and while he was hoping they might share this one for themselves, he understands her family obligation.

“Sure,” he mumbles, using the end of the bath sheet to rub his hair dry, figuring he can mooch a visit to Rhodey’s family if he puts on a sad enough face.

Pepper beams at Tony, and pulls the phone up again. “He’s looking forward to it, so we’ll be out there on Wednesday night at the latest . . . yes, yes . . . you take care too, Aunt Ruby. Goodnight—“

As she hangs up, Tony shoots her an odd little smile; one slightly twisted, as if he can’t quite believe what he’s just heard. Pepper bites her lips. “Tony? It is okay with you, right? I mean, the last time I looked, your calendar for Thanksgiving was pretty open, and I meant to tell you that Aunt Ruby asked if you’d like—“

She doesn’t get any further; Tony picks her up and hugs her tightly, driving the air from her lungs, and losing his bath towel in the process. Pepper laughs, because being hugged by a damp, naked Tony Stark is a definitely worthwhile experience.

“Um, yeah, sure, un-huh. I can probably work in a visit . . . hell YES!” he roars, grinning, unable to keep up the pretense of bland disinterest. “Considering your aunt officially owns my soul through her chocolate chip cookies, I’m anticipating orgiastic bliss through culinary masterpieces of the turkey variety.”

“I know it would be immodest to tell you you’re right,” Pepper murmurs, rubbing her nose with his, “but, you’re right. Thanksgiving at Aunt Ruby’s is pretty food-intense.”

“I,” he sighs, “Am good with it. Tell me a bedtime story, and start with the pie.”

Pepper laughs. She helps Tony under the covers; he groans a little, but settles in, stretching out and relaxing. She looks up. “Jarvis, lights out, please. Regular morning routine, with an added coda to contact the pilot tomorrow.”

“Of course. Sleep well,” Jarvis replies. The lights go out, and the white noise machine’s subtle tone, just at the level of audible perception goes on. Pepper slips out of her peignoir and into bed. Tony reaches for her, draping her comfortably over his left side. They won’t stay that way, but it’s how they always start their nights together; close and intimate.

“Well, Aunt Ruby makes the three Ps,” Pepper murmurs softly, stroking Tony’s forehead. “Pumpkin, pecan and peach, although I’ll probably make the peach this year.”

“Mmmmmmmmmm,” Tony sighs. “Like ‘em all. Should we bring pecans? I think I have a grove or something in Georgia.”

“You own three pecan farms and a processing plant in Georgia,” Pepper reminds him. “Part of a diversification investment from a few years ago, and yes, we’ll bring some pecans with us. Maybe even peaches.”

“Peaches,” Tony mumbles, clearly about to drop off. “Anything else?”

“Well, that’s it unless you’ve got a platter stashed up somewhere. Aunt Ruby broke hers yesterday getting it out of the upper cabinet,” Pepper tells him sadly. “I think I’ll order her one and have it shipped before we go.”

“Mmmmmm,” comes the reply, and Pepper counts to twenty, but before she can finish, she too, is out.

Despite all his efforts, he cannot talk her into joining the Mile High Club. Pepper makes it a point to keep her laptop between them for the trip, and Tony is pleased to see her blush every time he throws a suggestive comment out. “Honestly, it’s just us here you know. And I have a cabin and everything.”

“No. I’m not going show up at my aunt’s house smelling like . . .”

“ . . . Close encounters of the Stark kind? We could shower. I’ve got this great little shower in there. Hand held,” Tony murmurs seductively, his eyes alight with possibilities that deepen Pepper’s blush.

She tries to glare at him. “Tony, you need to throttle back that libido of yours. We are going to my aunt’s house, and it’s very likely we’ll have separate bedrooms there. Please tell me you can cope with that?”

He pouts. “How long are we staying again?”

“We’ll be leaving Sunday afternoon, unless you get paged for a mission.”

“Four days? What are you trying to do, drive me to a monastery?” he grumbles. “Seriously, four whole days?”

“You’ve managed before,” Pepper dryly replies to these dramatics. “And don’t tell me you haven’t.”

“Not voluntarily,” he’s quick to point out. “Fine. Just be aware that I might end up a tad . . . cranky.”

Pepper looks up from the computer screen, her expression of mock-sympathy soft and sweet. “Poor baby. Yes, I’m sure it qualifies as inhumane treatment to ask you to abstain from sex for a few days.”

“Stop treating this like a joke,” Tony mumbles. “I’m a deeply sensitive genius.”

“No comment,” Pepper replies, but she smiles, and tosses him his one of a kind home-made state of the art handheld game system. Glumly Tony catches it and loads up Pikman: Legions of Color-Coded Doom.

The farmhouse is just as Pepper remembers it, but it’s been freshly painted, slate blue with white trim. Off across the frosty fields is a compact single story building she knows is the weather data collection post. Tony is standing next to her, suitcases in hand, looking handsome in his dark coat, his breath coming in puffs.

“Cold,” he remarks, and she realizes how very Californian he is.

“Gets that way here,” she replies, and then the door opens and Aunt Ruby comes out, wiping her hands on her apron, her smile big. She’s more fragile looking now, but livelier too. Pepper knows that she’s in her element during a holiday.

She makes a beeline for Pepper and hugs her warmly; a hug that’s returned heartily. Then Ruby turns to Tony and hesitates; he lets go of the suitcase and takes both her hands instead, squeezing them and speaking softly. “Mrs. Cozlinski, I am very touched to be invited for the holiday. Thank you.”

Pepper melts a little. Tony has impeccable manners when he bothers to use them, and clearly Aunt Ruby is touched by his sincerity. She squeezes his gloved hands back. “You’re very welcome young man, and I think it’s time you called me Ruby, please.”

“Please call me Tony,” he replies, and smiles.

Ruby nods, and looks around, then laughs. “All right then, let’s get inside before we all catch a chill. I’ve got a casserole in the oven, and the dining room to clean.” She turns and heads back up the porch steps into the house, and Pepper takes a suitcase handle. It’s Tony’s, and heavier than she remembers; Tony takes it from her with a mysterious smile and Pepper wonders if he’s packed a portable workshop in it.

Ah well, she figures, this is Tony and he’ll need gadgets to play with.

The wonderful smell of chicken casserole drifts in the house, and the sound of Aunt Ruby’s beloved easy-listening station makes Pepper relax. This is the way the holidays go, these familiar, beloved things. A figure rises from the kitchen table, and comes towards her.

“Ginnie, it’s good to see you!” comes the reedy voice of her cousin Paul. He’s put on weight, and his shirt buttons are straining a bit; the longer sideburns are not a good look for his pale and thinning red hair. She’s not excited about being hugged by him, but he’s family and she lets him. Then he turns to Tony and Pepper can see Paul preparing to suck up.

Tony can see it too, she smirks to herself. He holds out a hand and judging by Paul’s expression, Tony’s grip is painful. “Tony Stark. And you are?”

“Paul Cozlinski,” he wheezes. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes,” Tony murmurs. “Lawyer, right?”

Paul nods, clearly surprised that he would know.

Tony give a shake of his head. “Ah well, I suppose there’s one in every family.”

Aunt Ruby catches the tail end of this and tries not to laugh; Pepper is biting her lips hard for a moment, exasperated but amused too.

So very, very Tony.

“All right, you and Ginnie have the front rooms over the porch if you want to get settled in,” Aunt Ruby announces brightly. “Dinner is in an hour, and Ginnie, if you’re up for it, Clarence needs a dose of medicine and there are eggs to bring in.”

“Sure,” Pepper replies, glad of something to do. Tony has already picked up the bags and is looking at her for direction, so she motions to left, and the stairwell there. They go up, passing framed family photos on the floral wallpaper, taking the turn and stepping onto the landing. Pepper gestures to two adjacent rooms. “Take your pick.”

“I choose the one you’re in,” Tony murmurs under his breath, and she rolls her eyes.

“House rules—” she murmurs back. “Play nice, Tony.”

He takes the one on the left, and Pepper stands in the doorway as he looks around. The wall paper has a pattern of soft fleur de lis on it in gold, and the bed is old-fashioned, with tall wooden posts at the foot and head. At the writing desk there’s a computer; several years old but functional, and the closet is empty except for a few bare hangers.

“It’s okay?” Pepper asks. Tony looks at her, but her smug little gaze is along the wall that separates their rooms.

The wall with a door.

He smiles. “Perfect.”

Pepper laughs, and carries her suitcase next door. Once she’s gone, Tony heaves his suitcase on the bed. He opens the case and digs around for a moment, shifting the jeans and socks around until his fingers touch the thick glass.

Carefully he pulls out the platter and examines it for a moment, then tucks it under his arm and heads downstairs.

Aunt Ruby is alone at the kitchen sink, rinsing a cream pitcher; she looks up as Tony approaches her, holding out the platter.

“Can you use this?” he asks quietly. “Pepper mentioned you’d broken yours, and I thought . . .”

She takes it, looking at the pressed glass, blinking hard. It’s a heavy oval platter, with patterns of grapes and vines around the edges, and a raised, bumpy surface on the inside. A beautiful piece from the Fifties. “This is . . . lovely. I couldn’t--”

“You should. You really should,” Tony murmurs. “I packed it away after my parents died, and it’s a waste not to use it. Frankly, I don’t cook much, and it would make me and my mother happy to see it on a table again. Please, Ruby.”

Aunt Ruby bites her lips; the familiar gesture sends a pang through Tony. She carefully sets it down on the kitchen counter and holds out her arms. Shyly he moves into them and Ruby hugs Tony, her soft whisper for him alone. “You are a credit to your mother, Anthony Stark. Thank you.”

He blinks, eyes bright, smile crooked. “Thank you.”

Then Paul comes in through the back door, face red, arms full of firewood. “Getting cold out there. I think it might snow tonight.” He drops the wood into the scuttle, noisily.

Tony looks startled. “Really?”

Both Paul and Aunt Ruby nod; Ruby speaks up. “Before the Mortensens left they mentioned it might, yes. It’s been a few years since the temperature dropped low enough to do that by Thanksgiving.”

“Snow,” Tony marvels. “I usually only see that in Aspen.”

“Aspen,” Paul drawls, pointing a finger at Tony, his smirk unpleasant. “Skiing with celebrities, right? I seem to recall a story about you in a pret-ty notorious situation there with a hot tub full of naked babes--”

Pepper strides into the kitchen, and puts her hands on Tony’s back, steering him in a circle and out the door again. “Time to go give Clarence his meds. Later, Paul--”

They coat up and head out, Pepper stamping through the frosty ground ahead of him, not looking at Tony. He sighs; a reputation is a hard thing to live down, even now.

“I’m sorry,” he tries.

Pepper shoots a compassionate look over her shoulder at him. “For what? Paul was being a jerk in bringing that ancient scandal up. Not your fault, Tony.”

He feels better, and follows Pepper into the barn. She rolls the door open, flicks a switch and dim bare lightbulbs go on down the center of the barn; animals in the stalls stir a bit. Tony loops an arm around Pepper’s waist and pulls her close, nuzzling her in the warm privacy of the barn.

She hugs him for a moment. “Paul’s just jealous.”

“He can stay jealous; I’m not going to hot tub naked with him no matter how much he begs.”

Pepper’s laugh is enough to stir the horses, and she spends the next few minutes moving from stall to stall, soothing them. When she and Tony reach Clarence’s stall, the bull listlessly turns his head to look at them, tail flicking slightly. Tony eyes the big animal with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“According to this,” Pepper picks up a bottle of liquid on the shelf of the stall and reads the prescription label, “Clarence has some internal parasites, poor baby.”

“Okay, ew,” Tony mutters. “TMI is ruining the Normal Rockwell effect.”

Pepper carefully loads a needle-less syringe and moves towards Clarence’s head. The bull lets her pat him soothingly, and she gently works the syringe into the corner of his mouth and squirts. Tony watches in fascination as Pepper manages to calm the bull; the animal’s thick tongue flicks out as Clarence swallows and tries to figure out what just happened.

“Okay, we need to move back, waaaay back, like, to the other side of the barn,” Pepper mutters, tucking the syringe back on the shelf and pushing Tony impatiently. He looks confused, but she’s shoving him now, HARD, and he stumbles away. Pepper is starting to run for the barn doors, and just then . . .

The loud, explosively liquid sound of a massive bovine bowel movement reverberates through the barn, and the odorous waft of methane and manure fill the air.

Tony slams against one of the stall dividers, hand instinctively pinching his nose, his eyes huge and alarmed. Pepper takes one look at his face and bursts into laughter. He shoots her a look of pure disgust. “Oh that is just . . . . need to say it, fucking GROSS Potts!”

This is delivered in a high whiny drone through his pinched nostrils, and makes Pepper laugh even harder; she clings to the barn door, wheezing now, cheeks red, hair tumbling loose as Tony Stark waves a hand in front of his face and stumbles towards her, his revulsion in perfect comic effect. He scoops an arm around her waist, and spins with her through the doors, both of them slamming up against it on the outside. Pepper is crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“You set me up, Snuggles!” he accuses, and she can’t deny it.

“W-w-welcome to farm life, City Boy--” she chuffs, wiping her cheeks with her wrist, still smiling.

“Shit,” Tony mutters staring down at his shoes, and that sets her laughing again.

The casserole is excellent, and Pepper is irked that Paul takes seconds and thirds before anyone else is done with their first servings. Aunt Ruby talks about Charles and Emily Mortenson, and how well they’ve fit into life in Kiowa; enough so that they’re about to buy a house on the edge of town. Paul offers up some family news about Pepper’s nephews, and tends to dominate the rest of the conversations, but Tony is polite for most of it, and Pepper appreciates the effort he’s making on her behalf.

Aunt Ruby brings out warm espresso brownies for dessert. “Someone told me you like coffee,” she murmurs to Tony.

Pepper can see his eyes warm with pleasure. She slips her foot against his under the table, fighting a giggle when his sock-covered feet grip her ankle in return and start caressing it. Tony’s under-the-table playfulness helps curb her annoyance when Paul loads up on the brownies ahead of everyone else at the table.

After dinner and dishes and a viewing of Arsenic and Old Lace on Turner Classic Movies, Pepper and Aunt Ruby go together to lock up the barn and check on the garden. They walk companionably together, and shovel up Clarence’s offering, dumping it into a veterinarian’s plastic bag for later disposal, and Pepper tells her aunt about Tony’s reaction.

Aunt Ruby laughs softly. “That was wicked of you, Ginnie Caroline Potts. I’ve a good mind to move you to the downstairs bedroom for that.” She arches an eyebrow, making it clear she’s aware of the connecting door, and Pepper blushes.

“I couldn’t help it; he’s so . . . cosmopolitan,” she murmurs.

“But you love him anyway,” Aunt Ruby replies with a knowing smile. “And I can see why. “Trying as I’m sure he can be, the man can’t hide the nobler aspects of his nature.”

Pepper sighs. “Yes. And I still can’t shake the feeling that I’m letting myself in for a world of heartache, though.”

Her aunt reaches out and rubs Pepper’s shoulder comfortingly. “Honey, to love is to risk. No guarantees in this life about anything, much less matters of the heart. But from what I can see, you’re both serious about this, and making the effort. That does matter in the scheme of things.”

The smile Pepper flashes is tremulous and bright. “Thanks.”

They walk to the back of the farmhouse, and through the gate into the garden. The boxes are covered with burlap, and mulched over. Pepper looks over the garden and smiles. “Anything still coming in?”

“A few last minute gourds, and I have some potatoes to dig up in a few weeks,” Aunt Ruby replies thoughtfully. “That reminds me, I have some jars of strawberry jam and dilly beans for you to take back. I put up extra this year.”

“Thanks,” Pepper smiles, and carefully mentions, “Um, Tony built me . . . a greenhouse.”

Aunt Ruby blinks, looking amused in the light from the back porch. “You don’t say.”

“Yeah.”

Both women stand silent for a long moment, and finally Aunt Ruby smiles. It’s a lovely smile, full and sweet; the smile that won Janos’ heart so many years ago. “Oh honey, that’s marvelous! A great big full . . ?” she waves her arms out, and Pepper nods, finally grinning herself, blushing at the same time. They hug, laughing.